Peter J. Leithart

Jesus cries out using the words of Psalm 22, and the people standing at the foot of the cross say He’s calling for Elijah.  Why?  They must be Jews, since they immediately associate “Eli” with “Elijah.”  But if they are Jews, why don’t they . . . . Continue Reading »

“Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani,” Jesus cries on the cross.  He’s crying out for Elijah, someone says. But the Greek eli is exactly the name of another Old Testament figure, the High Priest Eli, priest during the childhood of Samuel (1 Samuel 1-4).  That allusion works: Eli . . . . Continue Reading »

Exum notes that for the lovers of the Song “nature in all its glory reflects and participates in their mutual delight.  And everything is experienced more intensely, from the thrill of watching a lavishly outfitted palanquin approach from a distance . . . to the pleasure derived from the . . . . Continue Reading »

Yesterday, I noted Exum’s observation that the Song’s imagery is not straightforward visual, but describes the experiences of the lovers.  Exum is drawing on a 1967 JBL article by Richard Soulen, who says, “It should be obvious that comparisons of the female body to jewels (7 . . . . Continue Reading »

What is wisdom?  Follow the canonical progression of wisdom books. Proverbs: There are two women.  Choose Lady Wisdom and reject Lady Folly. Ecclesiastes: All is hebel .  Death looms.  Therefore, eat, drink, rejoice in the wife of your youth.  Joy in your wife is the way to . . . . Continue Reading »

Terry Eagleton gives a neat summary of Alain Badiou’s account of faith, an account that seems to me to be quite close to the biblical view of faith in several respects: “ . . . the kind of truth involved in acts of faith is neither independent of propositional truth nor reducible to it. . . . . Continue Reading »

A couple of disconnected notes on Matthew 27. First, the death of Jesus responds to the mockery of passers-by and Jewish leaders.  The passers-by mock Jesus for His claim to be able to destroy and rebuild the temple (v. 40), but at the death of Jesus the temple is essentially immobilized when . . . . Continue Reading »

Commentators often resort to some embarrassing expedients in trying to explain the bodily imagery of the Song of Songs.  The assumption is that the images are mainly visual.  Breasts are like fawns grazing among the lilies?  Well, the fawns must be bent over, their backs rounded and . . . . Continue Reading »

In her commentary on the Song of Songs (Old Testament Library) , Cheryl Exum notes the finely rendered sexual differences between the way the man and woman of the Song, evident in the different ways they express their desires for one another.  The woman tells stories: “They are the only . . . . Continue Reading »

Further thoughts on the structures of Matthew 27, focusing on verses 45-66. Verses 45-54 can be seen either as a panel structure or as two chiasms. In the panel structure, each panel begins with Jesus crying out in a loud voice: A. Jesus’ “cry of dereliction,” v 46 B. Reaction of . . . . Continue Reading »